Through our church we have an easy way to help families in need for Christmas.

They have a little tree with ornaments and each has a gift and an age so you can anonymously donate a Christmas gift to someone in our town.

I got a gift ornament for "Dress Up Kit" 7 year old.

So I put a few things together, and hope whichever 7 year old girl received it liked it in the end. 

I could have done more, but ran out of time.

I thought actual heels would be better than the plastic wedge flip flops that usually come in dress ups, and they're small enough they'll hopefully stay on, but will be bigger than most 7 year olds actual foot size I imagine.

After the glitter dried for a few hours, I went back and coated the shoes with another thick layer of mod podge to glue the glitter on so it hopefully won't flake off everywhere when worn.

I've always loved the idea of ugly christmas sweaters and had the chance to go to a girls night this year and wanted to have something to participate with.

But being pregnant kind of threw a twist in finding a thrift store Christmas Sweater, so I just bought a men's huge sweater and added some ugly dorkiness to it.

Lately, I've liked the current trend of laser cut leather.

Making leather which usually seems tough and edgy delicate like lace is a cool technique.

 

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So today, I thought I'd try my own version of this leather skirt, but for toddler girls:

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 I liked the fact the cut out design was mainly around the hem, so you wouldn't have to line the skirt.

Also, I don't have a laser, so the design would be hand cut and simple is obviously better.
I chose not to use real leather, going with chocolate pleather because it's cheaper, more kid-friendly, and easier to punch.

I thought this was a cute way to have a different textile in your girl's wardrobe without seeming sexy or too adult, which I usually associate with leather.

The detail on the skirt are simple punches in overlapping circles along the hem. 

Using a simple template, the marking goes really quick and the punching wasn't too bad either. 

A lot faster than hand embroidery or hand sewing!

 MAKE YOUR OWN PLEATHER HAND CUT SKIRT

SUPPLIES:

 for toddler sized skirt

-1/2 yard pleather

-1/2 yard 1" or wider elastic

-sewing machine, sharpie marker, masking tape

-buttonhole cutter set or snap/ grommet pliers

available from amazon and other craft or fabric stores

PRINT PUNCH AND SKIRT TEMPLATE

uses one 8.5"x 11" page, cardstock recommended

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. CUT OUT CIRCLE SKIRT

Depending on the size of the skirt, you can adjust the length and waist of the circle skirt.
Basically you're just drawing a donut shape.  

The included template is for a skirt that would accomodate a 18-22" waist and the finished skirt is 6.5" long.
To adjust for larger waists, cut 1/4" down on the smaller curve (narrow end of pie) of paper template.

To add to the length of skirt, add however much you need to the larger curve (wide end of pie).

Because pleather is thick, I traced the entire circle out on the wrong side, using tailor's chalk.

Carefully cut out pleather donut making as smooth edge as possible with scissors or rotary cutter/ mat.

 To mark the next circle, I overlapped with three holes between the top and bottom shared holes as shown below.

To accommodate the curve of the hem and different sized skirts, you may have to adjust this overlap.  My skirt ended up working with 2 circles overlapping 3 holes, then one with just 2 holes, to have an even distribution around the curve and keeping the 3/4" space from the edge.

To punch out each hole, you can use the snap pliers or the buttonhole cutter circle.
I chose to use the buttonhole cutter:

smaller hole, cleaner punch, more time consuming

I found pressure straight down along with twisting produced clean, perfect holes

snap pliers:

quicker to use, larger hole, not always a clean punch, hard to reach holes farther from edge.

I top-stitched the elastic to the skirt 1/4" and again below 1/8" (not shown) away from elastic edge.

You're finished!

Ellie put the skirt back on after the pictures to twirl, which is kind of nice about using the thicker pleather, it stands out without a pettiskirt to make it full.

I decided to use my husband's chambray dress shirt and ended up making pants for our daughter.

I know I wouldn't want an arrow pointing to my butt, but in a baby I thought it added some texture and interest.  You could also add back pockets draw some attention away. 

The unique element that comes from the sleeves are definitely the plackets and cuff that become the new super thick hem and interesting buttoned side seams.
I added the pleated patch pockets and all the contrasting buttons.

So on to making your own:

Make Some Pants from Dad's Sleeves!

Start off by hacking off the sleeves at shoulder seams.

To avoid having puffy pants above the cuff, you'll need to get rid of the wrist pleats found in men's dress shirts.  Unpick the cuff from the sleeve.  You'll need between the buttonhole side to 2" beyond the pleats free.

I use a flat razor to unpick, much quicker and easier than a seam ripper.

7.  Sew the inside leg seam, making sure they are right sides together, and will match up to fit the width of the cuff when sewn.

8.  Reattach cuff to sleeve by top-stitching around what is now the pant leg. 

I used the fold or "side seam" as a guide for the outer edge of the pocket and placed my pockets vertically between the top of the sleeve placket and waist.

10. Add buttons for pockets and replace original dress shirt buttons with something fun.
I chose to add four buttons to the sleeve placket to look more intentional and less like a sleeve on a baby leg.